Elizabeth Harrin's Blog, page 21

PRINCE2: The Project Management Method Explained

What is PRINCE2®?

PRINCE2® is a project management method. It’s structured, and experience-based, created from the lived experience of thousands of project managers and successful projects.

PRINCE2® stands for Projects IN a Controlled Environment (Version 2). And it’s not spelled PRINCE TWO!

It’s a customizable way of managing and controlling the work. It’s tailorable and suitable for projects of all sizes, large and small.

I took my first Practitioner course in 2004.

Who is PRINCE2® for?

PRINCE2® works in a huge number of industries and domains. As a project manager, I have used it in financial services, and to a lesser degree, a modified version in a healthcare setting. It’s a predictive methodology, although PRINCE2 Agile® allows for agile frameworks.

Because PRINCE2® is a broad-brush approach, it doesn’t cover technical processes or specific techniques, but it will fit alongside them.

The History of PRINCE2®

PRINCE2® is part of the best practice guidance that came out of the UK Office of Government Commerce.

It started life as the PROMPT methodology, created in a private UK company back in the 1970s. A British government agency, the Central Computer and Telecommunications Agency, licensed it for use in government IT projects back in 1979.

It was renamed PRINCE.

PRINCE2® was released in 1996 and had major updates in 2009 and 2017. The most recent major update came in 2023.

I was asked to be one of the reviewers of the PRINCE2 7 manual, so I am very familiar with the content and changes since the last edition.

The PRINCE2 method is something that was used mainly in public sector UK projects, but quickly got picked up by the private sector and spread throughout Europe and the rest of the world. Because it works. Today, it is used by thousands of practitioners in hundreds of countries.

PRINCE2 Agile® came along in 2018 to enable PRINCE2® to work with agile concepts like timeboxing and Kanban.

The 5 elements of PRINCE2

There are 5 integrated elements of PRINCE2. These are:

People (new for the 7th edition, there is a whole new chapter which is long overdue in my view)PrinciplesProcessesPractices (this section used to be called Themes, if you are familiar with the 6th edition) Project context (which is where we talk about the business environment and tailoring).PRINCE2 core principles

The 7 core principles in PRINCE2® project management are the ‘guiding obligations’ to ensure that critical areas for success are constantly front of mind. They are:

Ensure continued business justificationLearn from experienceDefine roles, responsibilities and relationshipsManage by exceptionManage by stagesFocus on productsTailor to suit the project.

Let’s have a quick look at these best practices.

1. Ensure continued business justification

A PRINCE2® project needs a business case. There should be a point to doing any new project: there should be some business driver to doing the work.

And that business justification needs to last throughout the project. You should keep checking in, for example at the end of each stage of the project, to make sure that the work is still viable. Ideally, you’ll be able to achieve the benefits but sometimes things happen to make that difficult. In those cases, you might want to recommend the project is stopped.

2. Learn from experience

There is a focus in PRINCE2® on learning from experience. You should look at what happened on past projects because that helps mitigate risk on your current project.

Lessons learned isn’t something you do once. PRINCE2® encourages you to dig into lessons learned all through the project life cycle to help you make better choices. Document lessons learned for future projects.

3. Define roles, responsibilities and relationships

There are defined roles and responsibilities in PRINCE2® projects. There are 3 main stakeholders:

Sponsor: the business sponsor who make sure the project delivers the right thingUsers: people who use the end result and/or receive the benefitSuppliers: people or companies that provide the resources to get the project done.

The default roles are:

The project board, made up of the executive (sponsor), senior user (user rep) and senior supplier (supplier rep)Project managerProject supportProject assuranceChange authorityTeam manager

That’s it. All the team members fit into one of those roles, although it is possible to tailor the structure to suit your environment.

The relationships part of this principle’s title is all about the project ecosystem and how soft power and networks influence the way work gets done.

4. Manage by exception

I love this principle. It means you have boundaries and tolerances set for your role as the PRINCE2® project manager, and you can operate within those boundaries. If you go out of those, there is an exception, and you escalate or get management input as necessary.

Management by exception works at every level and relies on the project team being trusted to do their job. When that happens, the sponsor and project board only need a regular report at the prescribed times.

This avoids micromanaging and builds trust in the team.

5. Manage by stages

PRINCE2® delivers the work in stages. The project manager and team break down the work into chunks called management stages.

There’s a process to guide work through the stages so there is adequate control at every point.

At the end of a stage, the project board decides whether the project is still viable and whether it should move on.

6. Focus on products

The method has a focus on products, which means you create a product description so that everyone knows what the project is creating. It’s a way to ensure expectations are managed and all stakeholders are on the same page.

Products can be defined in work packages. There’s normally some documentation that lists out what the products are so everyone understands what is being delivered.

7. Tailor to suit the project

The final principle is that PRINCE2® should be tailored to the environment. You can tailor to fit the project’s:

SizeImportanceEnvironmentTeam cultureRiskComplexity.

Tweak project controls to make the whole thing work for your situation.

What’s missing from PRINCE2® (thankfully) is the detailed guidance on ‘how’. For example, it talks about creating a schedule, but doesn’t mandate how to do that. You can use critical path scheduling, a Gantt chart, full on earned value management for schedule control, or some sticky notes on the wall. PRINCE2® won’t beat you up for choosing the right scheduling approach for your environment.

PRINCE2® practices

There are 7 practices in PRINCE2®. Let’s look at these.

1. Business case

The business case shows up in the principles as well – that’s how it important it is. It’s probably the most important one of the management products (that’s my view anyway: in the manual, they all have the same importance).

The business case ensures that the project is worthwhile and aligns to business goals. It also links back to performance targets. There is a new performance target of sustainability in the 2023 7th edition, which requires having a sustainability management approach in place for the project.

Finally, the business case empowers the project manager to recommend the project is stopped if the business benefits won’t be realized.

2. Organizing

This relates to the project organization: roles and responsibilities, the team, and the management set up for the project.

It’s the practice that enables the project leadership, effective communication, and team empowerment. It also covers organizational design and development.

3. Plans

PRINCE2® guides you towards creating plans that answer the questions stakeholders want to know: What are we doing?

How are we doing it?How much will it cost?When will it be ready?

The plans involved in PRINCE2® are:

The project planThe stage planThe exception planThe team plan.4. Quality

PRINCE2® talks a lot about quality. It sets out how to define product quality, how to measure it and the process for controlling it. This section also covers the idea of having a product register to track what is being created.

When I did my PRINCE2® course, this section was really valuable because quality is theoretically understood, but not always acted on at work. This practice helped me understand how to create a quality focus that wasn’t all about simply writing a quality plan.

5. Risk

Risk management is a core practice across many project management methods, and PRINCE2® gives you a practical approach to putting it front and center.

PRINCE2® fits in with the Management of Risk® guidance, also from Axelos. The risk method draws on that so the whole family of methods work together. It provides an approach to do risk assessment and then plan management actions to ensure the risk is adequately addressed. You’ll record your risks is a risk log.

6. Issues

This used to be the theme of Change, but PRINCE2 uses the terminology of ‘issue’ to mean anything that affects the project, and that could be a problem (i.e. an issue), an ‘off-specification’ defect or a change. Often issues lead to changes anyway and there is a similar process of analyzing and decision-making that we follow for both.

That said, change management is a big thing in project management. This relates to the authorization of change requests, not organizational change management (user adoption, training, etc).

There’s a whole process to follow that allows changes to be proposed, analyzed and acted on as necessary. And of course we have to push issues through a process that allows the project team to address them as well.

7. Progress

What’s the point of a project if not to make progress towards delivering the solution? You manage the project’s progress actively to ensure everything goes to plan.

The progress practice helps you control the project. This practice talks about having decent project reporting, tracking and monitoring performance, tolerances, issues, changes and risks, knowing when to escalate and being able to deal with deviations.

PRINCE2® Processes

People tend to think of PRINCE2® as quite a process-heavy method, and when I first did my exam, I felt the same. However, there is a lot of emphasis on tailoring, and the latest version is very flexible.

The processes are really not that complicated to understand or to do, and they are simply about having enough governance to make sure the project is properly under control. You will find them very intuitive once you get going and understand the jargon.

The core processes in PRINCE2® cover the whole life cycle and are:

Starting up a projectDirecting a projectInitiating a projectControlling a stageManaging product deliveryManaging a stage boundaryClosing a project.Starting up a project

This process looks at whether the project is worthwhile and viable. The project brief gets created and the project board decide whether to go ahead.

Directing a project

Directing a project had a whole separate PRINCE2® book in the 6th edition, and I wonder whether there will be a new guide for project sponsors released in due course. Directing gets a process of its own. It’s the process that the sponsor and project board go through to make decisions and provide that governance layer.

It’s the activities that provide the parallel management and steering level that run alongside the work the project manager is leading.

Initiating a project

Once the project passes through the Start up phase, you move into initiating. This is where you dig into the work that needs to be done and you start planning.

There’s quite a lot of documentation that PRINCE2® suggests you create during this stage because the plan is created and you decide how to do risk management, communications, project controls, change control, quality and more.

Controlling a stage

This process helps you monitor and control the work throughout the stage. It’s the day-to-day effective project management that falls into this process.

You review progress, monitor that against the baseline you set and correct any deviations.

Managing product delivery

This process is what you use when you are ready to complete a product delivery. As you can imagine, these processes often overlap and happen in parallel, so PRINCE2® doesn’t exactly offer you a start-to-finish step-by-step approach. It’s far more flexible than that.

You might use this process several times throughout the life cycle as you need to get stakeholders to accept products as you go.

Managing a stage boundary

Stage boundaries are the points at which you move the project on. This is the process you use moving between project stages. It’s basically the approval for moving on to the next chunk of the work.

The project board review progress so far, look at the business justification and make the call as to whether the work continues.

Closing a project

Finally, there is a process around closing a project. It covers how to wrap up the work and ensure the loose ends are tidied away, making sure the products are delivered to the required standard and handed over effectively to the users.

It covers verification of the product, making sure the required support is in place and ensuring open actions and issues are addressed. You’ll also review the project’s performance and assess the benefits.

Becoming PRINCE2® certified

There are two levels of PRINCE2® certification: Foundation and Practitioner.

There is the ‘ordinary’ flavor of PRINCE2® and then there is also Agile Foundation and Agile Practitioner.

You’ll need to choose a training course and study with an accredited provider. I recommend studying with a PRINCE2® exam simulator because taking practice questions are key to not flaking out in the exam. I did loads of past papers when I took it, and they really helped. Once you re ready, take the exam(s).

Typically, the full Foundation/Practitioner certification course is 5 days, including both exams. There are no prerequisites for enrolling for the Foundation course. You can also take the course online with plenty of different format options.

However, I would say that some project management experience will make it easier for you to do the training and get through the exam, because it is intensive.

The course I took (and the format most in-person courses take) is to do the knowledge-led content over 2.5 days and then take the Foundation certificate exam on the Wednesday afternoon. Then spend Thursday and Friday morning on Practitioner content and exam prep, with the Practitioner exam on the Friday afternoon.

In other words, you can get PRINCE2® certified in a week with no prerequisites, which makes it a good option for people who don’t have years of experience.

You will need to maintain your certificate with a subscription service or take the exam again when it expires.

Ready to get certified? Check out the AXELOS-accredited PRINCE2® Practitioner course led by Frank Turley offered by Management Plaza.

PRINCE2® Practitioner, Online Course and Exam £659

A comprehensive and accredited PRINCE2® Practitioner online course, including exam voucher and simulator access.

Buy Now We earn a commission if you click this link and make a purchase, at no additional cost to you #ad Summary

PRINCE2® is one of the project management methodologies open to you. It’s a flexible, effective method for leading an entire project. Where will PRINCE2® take you?

This article first appeared at Rebel's Guide to Project Management

Who does what in Project Initiation in PRINCE2®

Initiating a project is where it all starts in PRINCE2®.

This is the phase where you start working out who is going to do what. You also put in place all the required elements to make sure the project goes smoothly.

The Initiating a Project process is designed to “establish solid foundations” according to the 2023 Managing Successful Projects official manual, also known as PRINCE2 7.

Essentially, this is the part where you make sure that everyone knows what they need to do and that there is a common agreement on the project objectives and the rationale for undertaking the work.

Getting clarity before you start

It’s important to get alignment and agreement before you commit to any dates or costs, and that’s the point of the Initiation phase. You’re trying to get clarity on:

The reasons for doing the projectThe benefits of doing the projectAny risks that you can add to the risk register nowThe scope and deliverables (or product description overviews)The costs and timelinesWho should be involved and who should make decisionsWhat quality looks like, what quality criteria you will be measuring and how.

In addition, there are some practical aspects to agree with everyone, like:

How to manage risks and issuesHow to track progress and what to do when you go off trackWhat baselines you’ll use and how to control themHow you are going to communicate and who to (your stakeholders).What gets done in Initiating a Project

There are a lot of management products i.e. documentation to set up in the Initiating a Project process, although if you have managed a project with PRINCE2® before you’ll just need to get out the versions you did for those projects and tweak them to suit this new one. There is no sense in reinventing the wheel.

There are seven things to do.

1. Agree tailoring requirements

The project manager is responsible for working out how to tailor the processes to fit the project.

Basically, this means looking at lessons learned from past projects and considering whether the project controls proposed are too big/not heavy enough/just right for the project and tweaking as necessary. Talk to the team as well as I’m sure they will have ideas about how they want to approach the work.

Then get approval for how you want to run the project from the board.

2. Agree management approaches

This activity means creating a lot of paperwork. As the project manager, you’ll be responsible for creating nine (count ’em) management approaches i.e. ways in which the work will be managed.

Come up with an approach for each of these:

change managementcommunication managementsustainability managementbenefits managementcommercial managementquality managementrisk managementissue managementdigital and data management.

The manual says you will seek approval from the project board for each of these documents, but in reality you’ll probably use PMO tried-and-tested standards and templates and the board members will care very little about how you intend to run the project as long as they trust you.

3. Establish project controls

Next up, the project manager is responsible for establishing project controls.

Controls are the methods for management and keeping the work on track — the governance of running the project.

Decide how many stages you want, whether you are going to use gate reviews, what tolerances are acceptable, how the project budget will be tracked and how you are going to escalate exceptions and issues.

Some of these might be built into your project tool; others will need to be managed through the project board.

4. Create the project plan

Next during the initiation stage, you create the project plan. Again, this is your responsibility, although you’ll need input from the project management team to do it. The stage plan for each project stage will drop out of the overall project plan as you move through the lifecycle.

You can either create a single document or link several other documents together in one. I prefer using one document that references other documents as then it’s easier to read and easier to use again as a template for the next project.

5. Prepare the business case

This step is where PRINCE2 7 deviates from other methods and approaches. Typically, in the olden days the project manager would be handed the business case and told to implement it.

PRINCE2 7 asks that the outline business case is reviewed and updated by the project manager in this stage. This work ensures that the project is still viable now you have more information.

6. Assemble the project initiation documentation

Yey, more paperwork! The project manager is accountable for putting the initiation documentation together. That means writing the PID (project initiation document) or whatever equivalent your PMO uses as a template.

The PID is a summary that links out to or mentions the other documents you have created, and brings all the info together in one place for authorization. If you already have a project brief or project mandate, you can use that as a starting point. The PID fleshes out the brief a little more.

I would also include role descriptions and the team structure in the PID too.

7. Request authorization to proceed

Finally, the project manager is responsible for requesting authorization for the project to move into the delivery stage.

The board then provides authority to proceed, and agrees to find the people and other resources required for the work to be done.

A RACI matrix is another way to display who is doing what – and it’s useful in this phase of the project.

So how do you actually make all this happen? Read my guide to how to kick off a project for your practical next steps.

This article first appeared at Rebel's Guide to Project Management

Best PRINCE2 Books for 2023 (Including PRINCE2 Agile Books)

The PRINCE2® certification exam is tricky to pass because of the style of objective testing and the number of questions you have to answer.

But PRINCE2® itself is not a difficult method to learn – and the official manual is actually pretty easy to follow and understand. The latest 2023 edition is even easier, and I feel like I can say that with some confidence as I was one of the reviewers for the text.

When I did my Foundation and Practitioner exams, I only used the two official PRINCE2® handbooks:

Managing Successful Projects with PRINCE2®

and the partner book:

Directing Successful Projects with PRINCE2®.

To be honest, I didn’t think about buying any other books at the time, as those were enough alongside the course material from my training provider.

As an aside, the PRINCE2® training provider I recommend for is MPlaza. Their materials are great.

However, there were a wide range of books available to help you understand the core practices (these used to be called themes), principles and processes of PRINCE2®. At the time of writing (September 2023), there really aren’t that many guidebooks to PRINCE2 7th edition as it is so new.

This shouldn’t be a problem for you as the manual is all that you need to pass the exam. It is readable, if a little dull, but it will give you everything you need to be exam-ready. I would supplement it with a PRINCE2 exam simulator to test your skills at test taking, but the knowledge is all in the book.

If you are studying for your exam and wondering what to read to supplement your learning, here are my recommendations.

1. Managing Successful Projects with PRINCE2®

I think you should read the original guidance. It’s written in a very accessible way. If your training provider does not provide it, it is worth investing in. Not least because Practitioner is an open book exam and you can tab and annotate your manual to help you in the test.

Make sure you get the 2023 (latest) version, known as PRINCE2 7.

It is expensive – see if you can put it on your business expenses but is the best PRINCE2® book and you can pass the exam with just this one.

Buy Managing Successful Projects with PRINCE2® on Amazon

2. Directing Successful Projects with PRINCE2®

Directing Successful Projects with PRINCE2® is not an essential read for the exam, but it is super useful and provides a lot of background information about project context that is helpful.

This book is the partner book to Managing Successful Projects with PRINCE2® (as the name suggests). It’s aimed at senior managers and senior project leaders. It covers the kinds of things that you need to know as a project sponsor working in a PRINCE2® environment.

The book approaches the project world from the perspective of someone in a leadership role, so it’s not directly relevant to project managers doing the day-to-day work. However, being able to see what the project process looks like on the exec side is very helpful and gives you a rounded view.

That background info is useful for improving your practice and filling in some of the gaps in how the whole thing is supposed to work.

If your manager is happy to fund this one, get it!

Note that this book is based on PRINCE2 2017 (6th edition) and we’re waiting for an updated version for PRINCE2 7.

Buy Directing Successful Projects on Amazon

3. PRINCE2 Agile®

Are you taking the Agile version of PRINCE2®? This is the book for you. It’s the official AXELOS handbook.

The book covers agile basics, PRINCE2® basics and has a useful section on what to fix and what to flex.

The second part of the book is the guidance, tailoring and techniques that are core for the exam. It looks at how to apply the principles, themes and processes in an agile way and explains how to manage product delivery.

Part 3 looks at areas of particular focus for PRINCE2 Agile® like the Agilometer and how to manage communications, releases and contracts. There are plenty of diagrams and I found it OK to read, not too dry.

Keith Richards is one of the authors and that gives me immense confidence in the quality and applicability of the text. I’m sure the other authors are great too, but I don’t think I know any of them! I hadn’t realized that Keith was behind this book.

Buy PRINCE2 Agile® on Amazon

4. PRINCE2 Agile®: An Implementation Pocket Guide

There are hardly any PRINCE2 Agile® exam prep guides around.

This book by Jamie Lynn Cooke is available as an Audible ebook and on Kindle as well as in paperback format. However, it is not an exam prep book for the agile test. Instead, it is a guide to implementing PRINCE2 Agile® in your own environment.

It covers the important things to know for agile success, how to switch from ‘ordinary’ PRINCE2® to the agile version, merging all the methods together and other topics that allow you to get agile going in your organization.

It’s something to read before you take a training course, to give you a bit of background on the terminology and context, especially if you already sat the ‘vanilla’ Practitioner exam and are now adding agile to your toolkit.

Buy PRINCE2 Agile®: An Implementation Pocket Guide on Amazon

How to choose PRINCE2® books

The most important consideration, whatever PRINCE2® book (or books) you end up buying, is to make sure they are aligned to the latest version of the manual. There are still old versions of several books floating around out there, so double check that you aren’t getting the 2017 or 2009 version by mistake.

Next, think about what other materials you are going to get as part of your training course. If you are self-studying, it’s more important to have the right reading material. However, too many books to read just gives you more to do, and I think that time is probably better spent doing practice exam questions.

Good luck with your test!

If you are looking for some other suggestions for project management books to read, you can check these out:

Books by Elizabeth Harrin (that’s me!)Best books on project collaborationBest leadership books for project managers8 must read books on stakeholder management10 best books on change management

This article first appeared at Rebel's Guide to Project Management

How to Improve Meetings with a Terms of Reference

Are your meetings a bit long and unstructured, regardless of how much effort you put into making a good agenda?

We used to have meetings like that until we implemented a terms of reference for the meeting series. Now everyone knows what the meeting is for and what their role in it is.

You can create a meeting terms of reference using the template structure below and streamline your committees. Ready to get started?

What to include in the meeting ToR

You’re creating a terms of reference that sets out everything attendees need to know about the meeting, so your ToR should be comprehensive. However, if it’s too long, no one will read it.

Here are the elements you should include, but feel free to review the list and add or takeaway items to make it relevant to your organization.

Meeting purpose

Start with a clear outline of what the meeting is about and why the group comes together. For example:

The purpose of this group is to review, assess, and plan the marketing direction for the organization, providing the strategic direction for campaigns for the current year.

The goal here is to create a common understanding of why they are all in the room together. Set the scope of the engagement with some overarching goals so everyone knows the point of the meeting.

Responsibilities

Responsibilities are different from the purpose. List the joint responsibilities for the group as bullet points. For example:

To agree on the marketing priorities for the forthcoming year on a rolling basis.To review quarterly progress against the plan.To adjust the annual plan as required based on campaign performance.To communicate the plan and results to relevant stakeholders across the organization.To approve international marketing spend.To review campaign results and share best practice.

Phrase each responsibility as a verb and aim for six to eight points. There’s no need to pack the page with them; they just provide some specifics on what the group does.

Attendees

List the people who will attend the meeting. It’s easier to write down the job roles than the names of the people, as you’ll find people move job roles and drop in and out more frequently than you expect. Job titles in the ToR mean you have to update it less often as key stakeholders change.

Start the list with the name/role of the person who is the Chair. If it is a project-related meeting, this is likely to be the project sponsor, but it could also be the board or exec member responsible for this particular area of the business.

You might have a rolling chair, where different people chair each time. Or you might want to specify which role takes the Chair in the Chair’s absence.

End the list with the person who is the Secretariat – we use this term as it’s less loaded than Secretary and more descriptive than ‘note-taker’, but use whatever you want. This role is the individual who collects agenda items before the meeting, collates the papers for the meeting, takes meeting minutes, and shares the output afterward.

If you’ve got space and your governance is a bit complicated, you could include a committee structure diagram that shows how this forum relates to other decision-making forums in the business. Often decision requests get cascaded up if the decision is too big for one group to make.

Quorum

If you are a decision-making meeting (and you should be, it’s not really worth having ToR for non-decision-making meetings), then establish what will make your meeting quorate.

Quorum refers to the number of people present to make a decision. If your group is 20 people, and only one shows up, can they make binding decisions on behalf of the group? Probably not. Quorate in that situation might be 15. It might be 20. But set a limit so everyone knows.

You can have variations on quorum. For example, you might say that the meeting is quorate if 10 people are present, including at least one board member.

Voting rights

Provide some direction to committee members about how decisions get made. Does everyone attending the meeting have voting rights, should there be anything to vote on?

The most frequent is yes. If they’re in the meeting, they deserve to have a say about decisions. However, you might want to add a note that says any additional attendees, like guest speakers, will not have voting rights.

Delegation of authority

Include a mention of DoA (delegation of authority). This is how much delegated authority the meeting has and is normally a financial amount.

For example, perhaps the portfolio decision meeting can approve projects up to a spend of $250k, but anything over that has to go to another forum for approval.

Perhaps a project meeting can approve changes that have an impact of less than three weeks’ duration and under 5% of total budget, but anything above that goes to the program manager for approval.

Some meetings may not have a delegation of authority at all. You may still be able to make decisions or recommendations, but not those that commit the organization to spending money.

Frequency and duration

We write frequency and duration into the ToR templates for our various decision-making committees, but it really is just a guide to the time commitment. It enables attendees to know what they are signing up for, but I find it often changes.

For example, one meeting we set up this year started as two hours. Now, they can conclude business in half an hour sometimes – they’ve got really efficient!

However, you should include frequency (how often the group will meet) and duration (how often the group will meet) in the document.

Inputs and outputs

What does this meeting need in order to be successful?

If it’s a decision-making forum, like a portfolio office project intake discussion, you will need the business cases or papers for each project so a decision can be made about whether to do it (or not).

Other inputs could include:

Campaign resultsOperational feedbackSubmissions for decisionsAdvisory papersBudget data.

Outputs are likely to be:

Committee reports of formal decisions madePlans or future decisions (to bring back to another meeting)Summary updates and changes.

Basically, list out the things that should be prepared in advance and the things that are created afterward.

Note that some of the inputs and outputs might be confidential materials, so if you feel it’s worth mentioning, include a sentence that says as much. Personally, I would leave this out and write it on the materials themselves, but it might be relevant for you.

Agenda

Obviously, the agenda will change from session to session but include a summary agenda in the ToR. Here’s an example:

Actions from the previous meetingProposals and decisionsSummary of actions from this meetingAOB

That’s pretty generic, but you get the idea. The purpose of the meeting will drive what is discussed. A renumeration committee may have accounts to review each quarter, and salary changes to approve, for example.

The best ToR format

Previously, I would have said that the best format for a ToR was a Word document, version controlled, and stored somewhere everyone could access.

These days I work with stakeholders who prefer slides, and we create ToRs in slide deck format. I say deck, but it’s one slide. These documents don’t have to be long.

Use bullet points and lists. Avoid unnecessary descriptions about what each section is for and get straight to the details.

Ultimately, choose whatever format you think people will read!

Get your ToR signed off

Once your ToR is drafted in whatever format you decide is best, make sure the chair of the meeting approves it. They should sign it off, and then it can be circulated to others in the meeting.

I would share a draft with the whole group and solicit feedback before creating a second draft and working with the meeting chair to finalise it.

Next steps

Now you’re ready to draft your meeting Terms of Reference document. You can probably do a good draft right now without input from anyone else, but make sure you do get other people’s thoughts as you pull it together.

Get a ToR template as a starting point and go from there.

It’s a simple document that you can put together in a couple of hours but it will make a huge difference to your committee meetings and keep you much more structured. Give it a go!

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This article first appeared at Rebel's Guide to Project Management

Project Management Conferences and Events 2023

Project management conferences are a fantastic way to meet new people and improve your skills. I always come away feeling energized about where I am in my career and relieved having met people with similar problems to me.

With the global pandemic, all of these live events have looked very different over the past couple years.

Most conferences are back for 2023 but some have gone completely virtual, opening up attendance to people that may not have the ability to travel.

We’ve updated our annual post to reflect what we know is going on right now and into the far future.

If you are looking to attend a project management conference in 2023, chances are there is something happening near you that will be fun and meet your professional goals.

I’ve compiled this extensive list of conferences both local to me in the UK and around the world.

Do you know of an upcoming event to add to the list? Please fill out this form.

PMI Africa Conference: Nairobi, Kenya, 10-12 September 2023

The theme for this year’s PMI Africa conference is The Africa We Want: Together We Can. It is set to be held in person in Nairobi. It will bring together hundreds of project, program, and portfolio managers from around Africa and the world. It will feature opportunities to network and learn.

Bridge 2023: PM & PMO Conference: Vilnius, Lithuania and Online, 21 September 2023

The annual event has a theme of Projectized-Digitized-Connected and will be dedicated to a sustainable way of working this year. This hybrid conference will bring together project management professionals for education and networking.

34th IPMA World Congress: Sevilla, Spain, 21-22 September 2023

The IPMA World Congress is a two-day in-person conference. It will be held in Spain this year, with a full agenda to come.

The Program Committee of the Congress includes more than 30 experts from Europe, Asia, America, and Australia, heads of large companies, leading scientists, and practitioners representing various areas of management, economics, and digital technology. 

Arizona Project Management Summit: Tempe, Arizona, USA, 29-30 September 2023

This hybrid conference will take place at Arizona State University and online. The theme is A New Normal: Reimagine Your PM Career for Success. The sessions will be held both in person at Arizona State University and virtually.

October to December 2023Global Scrum Gathering: Amsterdam, 9-11 October 2023

The Global Scrum Gathering is an all-levels conference. The conference is three full days of keynotes and break-out sessions to learn best practices and creative applications of Agile and the Scrum framework with professionals from around the world.

Project Summit Business Analyst World: Boston, USA, 16-19 October 2023

The ProjectSummit Business Analyst World is one of the biggest North American conferences for PMs and BAs. These are a series of summits held in different North American cities and each of the conferences includes hands-on workshops, educational sessions and the ability to earn PDUs and CDUs.

The Boston, MA Summit is the 4th in-person one of the year.

The PMO Leader Global Conference: Virtual, 18 October 2023

The PMO Leader Global Conference will be held on three different regional schedules, APAC, EMEA, and the Americas, with participants able to attend the sessions that work for them and their interests.

This conference is free to attend. Network and learn with other PMO leaders around the world.

Digital PM Summit: Virtual, 23-24 October 2023

The DPM Summit from Bureau of Digital is a really popular event for digital project managers to attend.

It will be held online this year and will bring together project management professionals for workshops, interactive sessions, lightning talks, and breakout sessions. They are celebrating their 11th year this year!

The Future PMO: London, UK, 26 October 2023

The Future PMO is a day devoted to PMO professionals and this year’s theme is The Final Frontier. This is a fun and unique conference that brings together experts across many industries to learn from each other. Network and meet with your peers, attend the keynote and morning sessions, and in the afternoon attend workshop sessions.

Once again, it is being held at the Novotel London West which is just a 3-minute walk from the Hammersmith Underground Station.

PMO Conference UK: Edinburgh, Scotland, 1-2 November 2023

Completely focused on all things PMO, this two-day event features expert speakers, an exhibition with PMO products and services, plus the chance to connect with other professionals in the industry. There is a sister event taking place in London in June.

I’ve spoken at a previous conference about Stakeholder Engagification. My presentation looked at the differences between management and engagement in a project-led environment and provide practical tips for “doing” engagement and encouraging participation through game mechanics. I also did a similar webinar version you can watch here.

I also attended the conference in 2018 and interviewed Geoff Crane. Watch the video below.

Project Summit Business Analyst World: Vancouver, Canada, 13-15 November 2023

The ProjectSummit Business Analyst World is one of the biggest North American conferences for PMs and BAs. These are a series of summits held in different North American cities and each of the conferences includes hands-on workshops, educational sessions, and the ability to earn PDUs and CDUs.

The Vancouver, BC Summit is being held at the Pinnacle Hotel Habourfront.

Project Summit Business Analyst World: Chicago, USA, 27-29 November 2023

The ProjectSummit Business Analyst World is one of the biggest North American conferences for PMs and BAs. These are a series of summits held in different North American cities and each of the conferences includes hands-on workshops, educational sessions and the ability to earn PDUs and CDUs.

The Chicago, IL Summit is the 5th in-person one of the year.

Past events

Check out the replays and event write-ups online for these past events. Many of the organizers will also be advertising their next dates now, so have a think about which ones you want to put on your calendar for next year.

Dubai International Project Management Forum: Madinat Jumeirah, Dubai, 23-26 January 2023

Entering its eighth year, the Dubai International Project Management Forum is the largest project management event in the region had a theme of Fostering Wellbeing. This learning and networking event brought together over 2,000 project managers.

APM’s Festival of Education and Research: Virtual, 8 Feb 2023

APM’s Festival of Education and Research is a fantastic networking opportunity spanning across both professionals and academics. At this event, APM celebrates project management academia, education and research.

CHG MGMT Summit: Charlotte, NC, USA, 2-4 March 2023

ACMP’s Annual Conference was held in Charlotte this year, and the theme was Reimagining the Customer Experience.

Women in Project Management (WiPM) Summit: Dublin, Ireland, 9 March 2023

The Women in Project Management event has a great list of speakers lined up at this conference at the Convention Centre in Dublin.

PMI Sweden Passion for Projects: Stockholm, Sweden 13-14 March 2023

The PMI Sweden Chapter holds this annual event with inspiring speakers, professional colleagues, and companies in different sectors gathered with the goal of sharing their knowledge and experience in project, portfolio, and program management.

23rd European Pharma & Medtech PPM Conference: Basel, Switzerland, 22-23 March 2023

This PPM conference is focused on Project, Program, and Portfolio Management for Pharma & Biotech. This year’s theme is New Ways of Working, and speakers will be covering the latest innovations. This is a great opportunity for learning and networking.

2023 AIPM National Conference: Sydney, Australia, 24 March 2023

The Australian Institute of Project Management holds an annual conference. The theme is Leading through Disruption, with a focus on the factors driving disruption and how to lead through it.

Project Summit Business Analyst World: Orlando, USA, 3-5 April 2023

The ProjectSummit Business Analyst World is one of the biggest North American conferences for PMs and BAs. These are a series of summits held in different North American cities and each of the conferences includes hands-on workshops, educational sessions and the ability to earn PDUs and CDUs.

The Orlando, Florida Summit is the first of the year to kick things off.

11th IPMA Research Conference: Nanjing, China, 22-23 April 2023

The theme for the IPMA research conference was is Research Resonating with Project Practice. This will be staged around thematic workshops and round tables, targeting innovations, networking and building trust in the science and project management community. 

The host is the International Project Management Association (IPMA) which is a Federation of 72 Member Associations (MAs) worldwide.

Virtual Project Management Symposium: College Park, MD, USA, 20-21 April 2023

This two-day event is hosted by the University of Maryland’s Project Management Center of Excellence. The Project Management Symposium gathers Project Management Professionals from all over the United States and across the globe to discuss trending topics, best practices, case studies, and academic research.

18th American Pharma & Medtech PPM Conference: Philadelphia, PA, USA, 25-26 April 2023

This is the east coast global Project, Program, and Portfolio Management Summit with a focus on Biopharma Portfolio Strategies. This year’s conference is in person over 2 days, planning 30 speakers across 28 case studies of the latest innovations.

Project Challenge: London, UK, 27 April 2023

Project Challenge is an independent event for project, program, and resource management. It’s part exhibition, part conference, held at the QEII Center in Westminster, London, so nice and easy to get to.

I spoke at the event this year, on behalf of Planisware, talking about Managing Multiple Projects.

Project Summit Business Analyst World: Toronto, Canada, 15-18 May 2023

The ProjectSummit Business Analyst World is one of the biggest North American conferences for PMs and BAs. These are a series of summits held in different North American cities and each of the conferences includes hands-on workshops, educational sessions and the ability to earn PDUs and CDUs.

The Toronto, Ontario Summit is the 2nd of the year.

APM Project Management Conference: Birmingham, UK, 8 June 2023

The APM PM Conference will have a theme of Change Changes and focus on success in a world of uncertainty and complexity. It is set to be held at the Vox and features an opening keynote by Carmel McConnell MBE and a closing keynote by Langley Sharp MBE.

Resource Planning Summit: St. Louis, MO, USA, 11-14 June 2023

This an annual four-day event for industry experts and Resource Planning professionals at all levels. The Resource Planning Summit covers a wide range of topics that appeal to anyone trying to navigate resource capacity vs. demand.

Project Summit Business Analyst World: Washington, USA, 12-14 June 2023

The ProjectSummit Business Analyst World is one of the biggest North American conferences for PMs and BAs. These are a series of summits held in different North American cities and each of the conferences includes hands-on workshops, educational sessions and the ability to earn PDUs and CDUs.

The Washington, DC Summit is the 3rd of the year.

Agile and Beyond: Detroit, MI, USA, 13-14 June 2023

The Agile and Beyond conference is back again, and it will be in person at Huntington Place in downtown Detroit. This two-day conference, starting with a keynote each day, will have sessions focused on Agility, Software Engineering, and Lean Business.

PMO Conference UK: London, UK, 14-15 June 2023

Completely focused on all things PMO, the two-day PMO Conference features expert speakers, an exhibition with PMO products and services, plus the chance to connect with other professionals in the industry. There is also an event in November taking place in Scotland.

Project Management in Practice: Boston, USA, 23-24 June 2023

Project Management in Practice is once again being held in person at Boston University. Earn up to 12 PDUs and get up to speed on the latest topics in project management.

EVA Performance: Virtual / London, UK, 10-14 July 2023

This year they are currently planning an in-person conference with an online component as well. It will be held at the BCS London office, as well as being presented on Zoom.

The theme EVA Performance is the use of new and emerging technologies.

Agile 2022: Orlando, FL, USA, 24-28 July 2023

Save the date for the Agile Alliance’s annual conference. Learn about latest practices, ideas and strategies and connect with other project managers. They are also offering a parallel conference in Scotland with some shared sessions from Orlando.

PGCS Project and Program Management Symposium: Canberra, Australia, 22-24 August 2023

This is the PGCS Symposium, and this year’s theme is Competent People Craft Project Success. This is advertised as a hybrid event bringing together the foundations of both project and program management working towards delivering successful projects.

Project Delivery Conference: Virtual & Chicago, USA, 13 April 2022

This annual conference is back in 2022 after last year’s hiatus. Hosted by Built Worlds, the Project Delivery Conference hosts leading construction experts to explore innovative technology from preconstruction through to turnover.

PMI Melbourne Conference: Melbourne, Australia, 16 May 2022

This year’s theme is Rebuild & Reconnect and will bring together project managers, program managers, and many others to network and learn. The PMI Melbourne conference is a great way to earn PDUs to maintain your certifications. There will also be a day of masterclasses held on 15 May. The conference ends with an Awards & Gala dinner.

This article first appeared at Rebel's Guide to Project Management

How to write a handover email to your manager

When I’m getting ready to leave a job, whether that’s for a holiday or for good, I’ll make sure to do a handover to my boss. That might be as simple as a quick email or a conversation in our last 1:1, but sometimes it’s important to do a bit more than that.

I’ve never gone back to a past employer (yet, maybe I will one day), but as 40% of people would consider returning to an employer, it’s worth making sure your exit is smooth, professional, and on good terms. Because you never know. Best not to burn bridges.

A work handover email to your manager is one of the steps to make the transition out of a job happen smoothly, and here’s how to write one.

Why write a handover email?

Handovers are useful if you will be out of the office for some time or forever if you are leaving your role. But you might need to write one after you have resigned or if you’re going on vacation and your manager is covering for you. You might also need to create a handover email for your boss when a project is completed.

But why bother? After all, it’s extra work for you, and perhaps they don’t need to know too much. Surely they know what you do all day already?

I don’t think bosses do know what we do all day because they have their own jobs, and they rely on us to do the work we’re paid to do. Therefore, a good handover email will:

Help you leave on good termsSave you time as your manager will not have to contact you after you have leftSave your manager time (maybe they’ll appreciate that and give you a great reference)Mean that there are fewer mistakes, so if you come back after your absence, you’ll have less mess to clear upBe a guide to your actual work and anything that needs to be done when you are gone.

Tip

A handover email for your boss should be a summary of conversations that you have already had. Ideally, you will have had an opportunity to talk to them about your being out of the business and what work will be handed over to them.

Be professional, be positive, and be very clear.

How to write your handover notes

In my experience, it’s difficult to sit down and write all handover notes in one go. That’s why I would recommend starting two to three weeks before you go away and creating a document that you can then add to as time goes by.

Trust me, you will think of more things to add. The number of little things that we do every day and take for granted soon starts to add up. This stuff would be beneficial to have in your handover message.

Give yourself enough time to write. Your handover notes also mean any month-end or reoccurring processes can be included. If you only take notes of the things that you were doing on any one individual day, you might miss out on some important content related to the things that take time at other points during the month.

Start a document in Microsoft Word and use that to add all of your notes. If you find there really isn’t that much to say, you can copy and paste the whole Word document into your handover email. In reality, I believe there is likely to be too much in detailed handover notes to make a coherent email. I’d recommend that you include a link to that document in your handover message.

Include links and resources

Include links in your document to where your manager can provide useful information. For example, screenshots or videos, walk-throughs of key processes, tasks activities that you do in particular software applications, or anything that they might find useful. Especially if you are resigning.

Include status updates on outstanding work

List out all the things you are working on and the status of each. Think about what you would need to know if you were receiving a professional handover – you’d need to know what to do and what to look out for, so include any potential gotchas, risks, and issues as well.

An incoming employee will also need to know who to contact, so make sure you’ve got a comprehensive contacts list to share.

Include day-to-day responsibilities

As well as projects, we all have daily tasks and regular meetings, so it’s worth listing out all that, too. Whoever is the responsible person for all of that will be grateful for any past meeting minutes, agenda templates, and so on to save them time and contribute to the smooth transition of responsibilities.

Include the next steps

Your handover email to your manager should include the next steps for the formal handover process or the upcoming plan. For example:

You are meeting with X to discuss one of the points in the emailYou will send an email to customers to let them know you are not available (list out which customers if you are only sending to some)Thing Y should happen on this date after you have left.

Explain that during the handover period, you will be copying them into emails for information. Only add that, if you will. While I don’t like extra emails for extra emails sake, if I know I’m going to end up with the responsibility of carrying on the work, having the background and context from the past few weeks is really helpful.

You can also mention what you will say in your out of office message, so they know queries will be directed to them.

Transfer key information to your resume

As a bonus, you can use the opportunity of preparing a handover report to think about what you have achieved. Copy any major deliverables and achievements to LinkedIn and also to your resume.

As you are going through the effort of identifying what has been done but still to do. You’ll probably be thinking about all the stakeholders and projects that you have worked on. These are all fantastic items to include in your LinkedIn profile and could be good examples to use at an interview.

Read next: How to Add Projects in LinkedIn.

Example: short handover email to manager

Hello (manager name),

Please find attached the handover document (or link to Microsoft Teams file or folder) that we have discussed. I hope you will find in there everything you need to manage while I am away/after I have gone.

Please have a quick look through before our final catch up conversation on (date), and we can go through any last things then.

Thank you very much.

Kind regards,

(name)

Example: longer handover email to manager

Hello (manager name),

As discussed, here are my handover notes related to my recent projects.

Current projects:

Project one (status, outstanding actions, key stakeholders, deadlines, recent and ongoing issues).Project two (status, outstanding actions, key stakeholders, deadlines, recent issues).

Future upcoming work:

(Describe any current opportunities you are working on or think they may need to follow up for future initiatives.)

Outstanding actions:

(Include a description of the task, the owner, the next step, and the date due – these should be things you haven’t been able to finish before you go.)

Other responsibilities that I am handing over:

Include your day-to-day tasks and responsibilities, for example, how to do software tasks where you are the expert, key processes and systems, logins to key software tools, and who is taking over from you.

In addition, I’ve created a list of key contact details, which you can find here: (link).

Thanks very much for the opportunity to work on these projects during my time in the role.

Or

I won’t be able to pick up messages while I am out, but I have blocked out my first day back to catch up, and I’ll put some time in your calendar then for a handback. I appreciate you caretaking my work while I’m away – thanks!

Thanks and regards,

(name)

And you’re done!

At the completion of the handover process, you’ve got rid of all your tasks, everyone knows what is coming their way, and your manager has a handover mail that outlines and summarizes everything they need to know.

You can get ready to leave with your head held high, knowing you’ve done a fab job of setting up the person who takes over from you for success.

What to do now

If you are wrapping up a project, get my handover and transition plan template – it’s perfect for tying up the loose ends, and I recommend you get as much as you can finished before you go.

If you’re leaving the office for a vacation and someone is looking after your work temporarily, then it’s important to plan for a lot more than just your final handover email. Read my 10 simple ways to prepare a vacation handover, and you’ll be able to leave for your holiday ready to fully destress and unwind!

This article first appeared at Rebel's Guide to Project Management

IBM Project Manager Certificate: My Student Review

Let me guess. You’re here because you’re interested in finding out whether the IBM Project Manager Professional Certificate is right for you?

You’re in the right place.

Summary review

The IBM Project Manager Professional Certificate is a good CAPM® alternative or course to use towards your CAPM prep. It’s great for beginners but still has some formatting errors in the content as it’s still new at the time of writing. If you are planning on a career in tech, do the IBM IT Project Manager Certificate instead.

I’ve done a lot of project management training in my 20+ years as a project manager (including this course which I’ll tell you all about below), and those training experiences helped me understand the soft and hard skills necessary for successfully leading projects.

However… it’s really important to choose a good course. If you are going to spend time and money on a professional certificate, you need to be confident that it’s worth your time.

In this IBM Project Manager Professional Certificate review for beginners, I’ll share my experiences as a student on the course including:

Why the IBM Project Management certificate doesn’t require pre-requisites (and what you do need to pass)Why it’s good for early career project managers, especially if you think that the CAPM or PMP exams are in your futureHow long you’ll need to spend going through the course materials before you pass, and what that process looks like.

This course is new (it launched in June 2023). I thought it was really good and it could turn out to be in the top bunch of popular online project management certifications for beginners on the market.

Before we begin: there’s also an IT version of this course

IBM has two project management professional certificates: the other one is the IBM IT Project Management training.

It’s longer and includes technical content (as you’d expect) so if you are considering a job in tech, why not check out that one too?

IBM IT Project Management Certificate

This beginner's IT project management certificate from IBM gives you everything you need to get hands-on experience and break into leading technical projects.

Learn more Read my review We earn a commission if you click this link and make a purchase, at no additional cost to you #ad

How I did this review

I enrolled as a student of the course on Coursera and worked through the course materials. I did the peer assignments, graded quizzes and watched the video training (although not all of it – more on that later).

I spent a lot of hours reviewing the materials and studying the individual courses, and I hope that time helps you make a choice about whether the course is a good fit for your career needs.  

Who is the IBM Project Management Certificate for?

The Coursera IBM Project Management Certificate is aimed at complete beginners.

You don’t need any prior knowledge or pre-requisite study, or any particular education requirements in order to take the certificate.

However, the courses get deep quite quickly. If you are comparing to the Google Project Management Certificate, I’d say this course is more. More detail, more PMI-aligned, just more.

I loved the Google course, but the Coursera IBM project management training is more aligned to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK 7).

You don’t need to know anything before you get started. If you do know that particular topic, you can skip through the videos on fast speed or move directly to the quizzes. That’s what I did to get through the content more quickly.

This course is great for:

People who have had no project management training and want to demonstrate they understand project management so they can land an analyst or junior PM job.People who are leading projects for their company but have had no formal training and would like to learn what they should be doing!Project managers who are yet to take a professional certificate but don’t meet the requirements for the course they are looking at, for example, not meeting the eligibility criteria for the Project Management Professional (PMP)® exam.

As I worked through the material, I realized the course is not really for experienced project managers because:

It covers pretty much everything you need to know to be ready for an entry-level project management job, but it’s light on tailoring and the ‘difficult’ stuff that tends to come with complex projects.There’s very little in it about working with project teams (admittedly, difficult in a video training).It’s aimed at the Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM)® level student and mentions that frequently. If you’ve got some experience, you could probably go straight for the PMP® exam.

If you are considering a career in project management, this is a low cost, low-barrier-to-entry course to check out what the job is really like.

About the course and structure

The certificate is made up of 7 courses. These are:

Introduction to project managementProject management foundations, initiation and planningProject lifecycle, information sharing and risk managementProject management communication, stakeholders and leadershipIntroduction to Agile development and ScrumProject management capstonePrep exam for CAPM

This is a very similar list as the IBM IT Project Management Certificate, except that one also includes IT fundamentals for everyone, scrum master essentials, and an intro to software engineering.

If you are aiming for an IT job, you’d be better off taking that course.

The modules do feel slightly disjointed as if they have been put together from other courses.

I didn’t take the courses in order, although at the time of writing, I’m still doing the Capstone project, which is my last course.

I studied several of the courses in parallel, waiting for peer reviewed assignment results to come in or doing the ‘easy’ quizzes on my phone while using my laptop for the modules I found harder.

Once you have passed all the courses, you’ll earn the certificate.

Set up of the course

Each of the IBM project management courses is made up of several modules that cover a range of topics. The modules are broken down by weeks so the course is structured so you pace yourself throughout. You don’t have to stick to that, I didn’t.

I really love the Coursera platform. It’s so good for learning on. The notes feature is great, the transcripts are easy to navigate, and it holds you accountable with reminders.

Coursera Plus

Unlimited access to 7,000+ world-class courses, hands-on projects, and job-ready certificate programs in a monthly subscription program.

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This course did not have very many downloadable resources, although I did get some document templates. I think they might add more downloads in the future.

The materials include:

Training videos – you can control the playback speed, hurrah!‘What it’s like to work in project management’ videos – these are Q&A conversations with IBMers talking about their role and career journey.Transcripts – these sit under the videos and the relevant text is highlighted as the speaker talksDiscussion forums – if you want to take part in the discussion forums and connect with other students, you can.How long does the IBM Project Management Certificate take?

The recommendation is 10 hours of study per week for 2-3 months.

There is no way I spent that much time on it, but I am an experienced project manager. I didn’t watch all the videos.

You could also do it much faster if you ignore the weekly module breakdown and simply plough through the content.

The learning side is relatively straightforward (watch the videos at 1.5x speed to save time), but you can’t save time on the peer assignments or the Capstone.

The specific amount of time you’ll have to spend on the IBM project manager certification is going to depend on how much time you can dedicate to studying and how quickly you pick up the concepts.

How the assessment worksQuizzes

Each module ends with a timed, graded quiz or final exam. Coursera is clear that it has to be your own work, so there are pop ups that require you to commit to the honor code and promise that it’s all your own work.

There are also practice quizzes so you can get used to how quizzes are structured before you attempt the graded quiz for each module.

If you fail a quiz, just take it again. You can review your answers, and there are notes that point you to the video to watch again, where you’ll find the solution.

Peer-graded assessments

The foundation course, the lifecycle course, the comms course, and the Capstone all have peer-graded assessments.

This is where you read a case study, complete a document template, upload it, and one of the other students assesses it. It’s hands-on experience of doing the legwork of managing projects.

You have to assess a couple of submissions from your peers in order to earn your grade too.

You get a marking scheme, and it is easy to follow – grading someone else’s work didn’t take me that long. However, the marking schemes for some assignments are really prescriptive. If you don’t give your project the exact name that they specify, technically, you shouldn’t get a mark.

I don’t think they truly meant to be that specific, especially as there is nowhere in the case study where you get given the exact name in the marking scheme, so how would you even know it?

Some exercises across the courses are the same e.g., create a RACI matrix, but the templates are different – that’s weird.

I also found a few formatting errors; for example, as you can see in the image below, Sarah is in this resource list twice. The second name should be Sandra. It doesn’t stop you from doing the case study assignment, but there are a few teething problems in the course like this – probably because it’s still new.

What you need to pass the course

Ultimately, to get the IBM project management badge, you just need the time and focus to plod through the materials.

Make a plan of how much time you have to study and stick to it. As it’s all online, self-directed learning, you have to be really strict about following through, as no one is going to come after you if you let it drift another month or so.

Maybe knowing that you get 7 days free is motivating!

What certificate do you get?

When you pass each of the IBM project management training courses, you get a downloadable PDF certificate. When you complete all the courses, a shareable LinkedIn badge via Credly.

I was surprised that I got another Credly badge (which, personally, I think is far more valuable than a PDF from Coursera) for the fundamentals module.

What’s the honors content?

There is optional Honors content in the course. For example, in the Intro to Agile Development and Scrum course. That means your certificate for that course has ‘with Honors’ written on it, and it means you took the time to do the optional Honors project, which in this case is creating an Agile plan with ZenHub.

It is useful to do the Honors content if you are serious about learning practical skills to talk about in an interview, but you don’t have to do them to pass.

What I liked about it

The advantages of the IBM Project Management certificate are:

It’s from IBM, a brand that employers will value.There are real-life interviews with IBMers, giving you an insight into the job, along with career support resources.It takes you from knowing nothing to having a decent understanding of what it means to lead a project, covering a wide range of content in depth.

It’s cost-effective if you work through the course quickly. The cost racks up if you spend months on it but dedicate yourself to getting on with it, and it works out cheaply.

Finally, and this is a big bonus, you work through examples, demos, and case studies in the course, including in the Capstone, so you get to put your skills into practice (helpful for when they ask you at an interview if you have ever done XYZ).

To earn the certificate and get the competitive edge, all you have to do is complete all the work! Don’t underestimate how much time it will take, though.

There is a lot of excellent material in the course, and while the graded quizzes are straightforward, the peer assignments are not.

There is no final, pressured exam, but there is the Capstone to work through. If you are nervous about taking invigilated exams, that’s another reason to take this course over one that makes you sit a final exam!

What I didn’t like about it

The disadvantages that I found are as follows.

Some of the exercises were the same, for example, creating a RACI or a RBS, but they had different templates. One assignment asked me to fill in a field on the template, but the template didn’t have that field – it felt a bit like a sneaky test: can you complete the exercise even though we haven’t made it easy for you to get all the marks?

The comms plan assignment asked me to create a document that needed a work breakdown structure, but I didn’t have a WBS.

One assignment required two documents to be uploaded. The marking rubric required both documents to have the title of the project at the top, and the rubric read like you have to use the exact project name to get the mark, but they were two different names!

On one course, it asks you to review the PDF, but there is no requirement to upload the content as a PDF (other courses specifically ask you to save your content as a PDF – as far as I can see, it makes zero difference to being able to access the content to mark it).

The modules feel disjointed, like they’ve come from other courses and have been put together for this certificate, which they have.

These are all tiny gripes about formatting and content, and they don’t really take away from the credibility of the certificate. I’m sure they will be resolved over time as students point them out and they are fixed.

My bigger gripe is that the course is very PMI-focused. In the comms course, the quiz specifically says these are the kind of questions you’d get in a CAPM exam.

I found the quiz questions very process driven in places: “What process are you performing when you do X?” or “What document do you fill in during this stage but before this is done?”

This is not real life. It will help you pass the CAPM exam if that’s what you want, but it won’t help you show up and be a fabulous project manager because in real life, people don’t care that you’re doing the Manage Quality process today or whatever. These are not the project management concepts that stakeholders lose sleep over.

It’s also not very agile. Agile concepts are covered, along with iterative development, adaptive planning, and other techniques, but they don’t show up throughout the material.

Recommendation: Should you buy this course?

If you are seriously considering a career in project management and want a certificate to put on your job applications from a training provider that people will recognize, then this is a fantastic entry-level certificate.

Sign up for the free trial, check out the course, and work through the content to earn the badge.

I should let you know that I am impressed with the course and that I’m now an affiliate for the Coursera platform so I can recommend it, but I only recommend products I have tested out and am confident in.

Alternative to CAPM IBM Project Manager Professional Certificate

In-depth and PMI-friendly course for beginner project managers, with the credibility of IBM instructors.

Learn more We earn a commission if you click this link and make a purchase, at no additional cost to you #ad FAQIs the IBM Project Management Certificate worth it?

I think the certificate is worth it for entry-level and beginner project managers, and those who are considering moving into project management from another domain. The course is great quality, in-depth and focuses on in-demand skills.

Is the Coursera IBM Project Management Certificate free?

No, it’s not free, but you can audit the course for free. That means you can study the course content, but you can’t take the graded quizzes or be eligible to earn the certificate. If you want to learn about project management but don’t need the certificate, you can study for free. There is also a free trial.

Is the IBM Project Management Certification equivalent to a PMP?

No, it’s not. The IBM Project Management certificate is not equivalent to a PMP because the Project Management Professional® certification has the pre-requisite of 36 months of experience working as a professional project manager. The IBM PM certification is closer to a prep course for the CAPM.

Does the IBM PM certificate count towards PDUs or PMP training hours?

Yes, you can use the training course as hours towards your PMP 35-hours of project management education eligibility criteria. However, it’s not a PMP training course so I would recommend if you are going for PMP, you need another course as well. It will also help you study for the CAPM exam.

The IBM project management courses on Coursera also count towards Professional Development Units (PDUs).

How much does the IBM IT Project Management Certification cost?

The certificate is made up of 7 courses available on a subscription basis which is £39 a month, or the equivalent in your country. You will need a subscription to take the graded quizzes and to earn the certificate. The faster you work through the materials, the fewer months of training subscription you have to pay for.

This article first appeared at Rebel's Guide to Project Management

5 Fab Online Resources for Project Management Certification Prep

If you want to land a good project manager role, one of the things to consider is certification.

When I did my first project management training, it was all classroom based. Fortunately, that isn’t the case any longer and if you can’t take a week off work or travel to a training center, there are plenty of online resources that will help you get ahead in your certification journey.

Here are 5 types of online project management study resources you can use for certification prep, regardless of what exam you are taking or method you are following.

1. Online courses

Obviously, the first thing I’m going to recommend is an online training course, tailored to prepare you for the certification you’re going for.

Here are the courses I recommend for popular project management credentials:

For Project Management Professional (PMP)®: The PM PrepCast

For PRINCE2: Mplaza’s PRINCE2 Practitioner prep course

For APM PMQ: Parallel Project Training

For Google Project Management: Google Career Certificates

There are dozens of providers offering online, hybrid and classroom models, so if you are going for a certification, your absolute first starting point should be a reputable, recommended training course that covers the complete syllabus.

Look for certification training that offers practice questions as well – exam simulators should definitely be part of your computer-based prep.

Looking for a simulator? I’ve reviewed loads. Here’s my roundup of the best PMP exam simulators. I also have a guide to the best PRINCE2 exam simulators.

I’m not aware of any publicly-available PMQ simulators but training providers will offer you practice exams and plenty of experience at mocks before your real exam.

There is no exam simulator for the Google PM course but you won’t need one because the courses include practice quizzes. Plus, you can the graded quizzes and hands-on projects as many times as you like anyway.

2. Study notes

You can prepare for the PRINCE2, APM PMQ, Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM)®, PMP, online degrees and other types of certifications by reading other people’s study notes.

Yes, people share their own study notes online!

These notes usually contain crucial information from training courses and lectures, making them useful as a starting point for your own notes, or as a refresh from a different perspective once you’ve made your own.
The good news is that there are plenty of study notes available online.

You can use the study notes on Studocu, which students from top universities like Imperial College London and Lancaster University created.

Users also rate the study notes on the platform to help fellow users find the most helpful lecture notes, summaries, and exam preparation documents from a variety of courses.

At the time of writing, there are limited project management contributions on Studocu, but it’s a growing platform and I found some really interesting ones. Online searches will also turn up files other people have shared.

3. Book summaries

Are you pressed for time when it comes to your exam preparation?

Many of the syllabuses require you to have general management knowledge. When I took APMQ (when it was called APMP admittedly), the syllabus covered leadership and team building topics, management theories and much more. Today, I recommend that students read around the topic.

If you are pressed for time, book summaries are the answer.

You can use Blinkist to listen to summaries of project management and general management books in fifteen minutes or less on any of your devices.

4. Forums

Got a question? Chances are someone has already had the same question, especially about prep for standardized tests.

Forums are a great place to browse common Q&A. Whether it’s what to expect on exam day, the best course providers, study tips for online education or something else, you’ll find a group of friendly, expert contributors in forums.

They are also a good place to ask about the project management skills you need to land a job, beyond getting through the test, so definitely worth logging into.

And I’m sure there are things you can contribute too.

The forum where I’m the most active is projectmanagement.com (a Project Management Institute website) although I also hang out in Project Management Café, which is our very own Facebook group.

5. Wikis

To round out your knowledge, try a wiki.

There are a number of good sites online that will help you generally get better at project management, and that’s really what a good certification exam should test.

These are the ones I’d recommend spending some time browsing:

Max Wideman: a huge repository of information about managing projects. Not a traditional wiki, but an amazing site to browse.Praxis: a detailed journey through the different aspects of project management. Easy to navigate, but tailored to the Praxis methodology, so if your certification uses a different one, then just be aware of translating the jargon and processes to what you will be examined in.PMI Standards+: if you are working towards PMP, this is the wiki for you. You’ll need to be a PMI member to access the resource, but if you aren’t and you are going for a PMI exam, then it is worth registering.

Use wikis as a supplement to your other study materials, for example when you want to go deeper into a topic or your stuck and need someone else to explain a concept in a different way to your prep books.

There is a wide range of online resources for project managers available, so it’s worth looking outside your exam prep course to what else will support you as you get ready for your exam.

However, remember that your project management career doesn’t only rest on whether you pass an exam. Soft skills, and the ability to put those skills into practice, are hard to test in exam conditions – experience is also what employers are looking for.

Good luck!

More exam prep resources

Here are some links to popular content to help you prepare for whatever certification is next for you.

How to juggle work and studyTried-and-tested CAPM exam prep tools12 tips for PRINCE2 exam successHow I passed the Google PM certificate in a week

This article first appeared at Rebel's Guide to Project Management

The unbreakable bond: How outstanding service = brand loyalty

One irrefutable reality stands out in the fast-paced world of business, where competition is tough and consumer expectations continue to evolve: outstanding service is the cornerstone that holds the customer/brand connection together.

It’s true: what you know to be the case from your own interactions with brands is borne out by research. And unsurprisingly, excellent service is the key to making customers come back time and time again.

However, it goes far deeper than just return business. The strong correlation between excellent service and brand loyalty is also a driver for long-term business success, as the 9 trends explored below explain.

The data speaks: 96% of customers value outstanding service

Recent research and polls have indisputably proven the importance of great service to clients. A massive 96% of consumers say that exceptional service is critical in their choice to stay loyal to a business[i].

This overwhelming majority demonstrates that service excellence transcends other considerations and has a big influence on brand views. In addition, 89% of consumers moved to rivals after having a bad customer experience[ii].

Companies may reduce customer churn and create long-term client connections by concentrating on providing excellent customer experiences.

Companies that prioritize and deliver a great omnichannel experience increase revenue by an astounding 9.5% year on year[iii].

This statistic emphasizes the necessity of providing a consistent and integrated experience across several channels, allowing businesses to capitalize on growth prospects.

Deskpro COO, Paul Davies, emphasizes the significance of prioritizing customer experience as a central growth strategy. “At Deskpro, we firmly believe that exceptional customer experience is the cornerstone of business growth. By placing customers at the heart of every interaction, companies can foster loyalty, drive repeat business, and unlock their full growth potential.”

With those statistics in mind, here are the 9 trends underpinned by the statistics that Deskpro have pulled together that will be reshaping the customer service landscape for the foreseeable future.

1. Service and loyalty are a virtuous cycle

The bond between service and loyalty is a virtuous circle in which one aspect enhances the other. Customers who receive exceptional service feel cherished, appreciated, and cared for, resulting in a greater emotional connection with the company.

As a result of this emotional tie, customers are more likely to advocate for the brand among family, friends, and peers.

Apply this in your projects

Map out the customer journey today and what an exceptional customer experience would look like. Then plug the gaps!

2. The impact of personalization and empathy

Personalization and empathy are key to the concept of exceptional service. Customers want experiences that are customized to their own interests and demands. When businesses truly grasp their consumers’ needs, pain areas, and goals, they build a sense of belonging and emotional resonance.

User stories can help project teams put customer needs at the heart of what they build.

It’s worth it, because the data is clear: 88% of shoppers are more inclined to continue shopping on a retailer’s website that provides a personalized experience, and that rises to 96% of Gen Z and 97% of Millennials.

Some statistics that support the trend of personalization include:

64% of survey respondents previously stated that they expected to receive an individualized experience, with 83% of people believing that personalization was important61% of consumers declared that they were loyal to brands that tailored experiences to suit their preferences and needs. 

Apply this in your projects

Code software to add in customers’ names and default to their location. Don’t ask for information you already have in the system. Even simple tweaks like adding, “Welcome back, Elizabeth!” when someone logs in can bring personalization into the customer journey.

3. The rise of self-service to empower customers

Empowering clients with self-service choices has evolved as a significant strategy for providing exceptional service in the digital era. Customers may access information, find answers to their questions, and resolve difficulties on their own with the help of a powerful self-service platform.

This degree of empowerment not only improves customer happiness but also increases brand loyalty since customers value the convenience and autonomy it provides.

Apply this in your projects

Build in ways for customers to access information without having to call in or go to a store. Think tool tips, a well-populated online help section, FAQ, searchable terms and conditions, AI chatbots. All those ideas can also apply to initiatives that support internal project customers – staff need decent self-serve help too!

Check out more project management trends shaping how we deliver projects successfully this year for other ideas of how to empower teams.

4. Seamless and consistent experiences make a good customer journey

Every encounter with a brand along the customer journey contributes to the overall opinion of service quality. Delivering consistent, smooth experiences across all touchpoints is critical for cultivating brand loyalty.

Customers want a consistent experience regardless of whether they interact with the business online, in-store, or through customer service channels. Brands that meet this expectation position themselves as trustworthy partners in the lives of their consumers.

Apply this in your projects

If your project is customer-facing in some way, walk through the journey and identify touchpoints where the experience may have variation. For example, in interactions with humans. Provide scripts and training, but empower team members to do what’s right – even if that means going off piste.

5. Offer the human touch for exceptional service beyond automation

As technology advances, there is a greater emphasis on automation and AI-powered solutions. While these advances clearly improve efficiency and streamline operations, companies must not neglect the importance of the human touch.

Genuine human interactions make an indelible impression on clients, building an emotional connection that AI cannot mimic, as evidenced in an Ipsos poll where 77% of US consumers declared that they preferred human interactions compared to speaking to a chatbot.

Apply this in your projects

Automate, systemize and streamline everything you can, but make sure human customers can still talk to human service agents if they need to. Lloyd Skinner shares some tips for AI in project management in an interview, so have a read of that if you want more ideas on how artificial intelligence is shaping project delivery.

6. Turn mistakes into opportunities: the power of service recovery

As much as we strive for Six Sigma levels of quality, errors are unavoidable (even in a truly Six Sigma environment). However, how a business responds to a blunder may make or break its reputation.

When done correctly, service recovery may turn a poor experience into an opportunity to strengthen client loyalty. Promptly resolving complaints, sincere apologies, and going above and beyond to make things right demonstrate to clients that they are valued and respected.

Apply this in your projects

During project execution, use the Voice of the Customer, Product Owner or customer reps to review the deliverables to try to prevent problems in the first place.

Build in a mechanism for feedback, try a beta launch with ‘friendly’ customers and make sure helpdesk staff have a process for resolving complaints.

Add these tasks to your requirements documentation so they are included in project scope from the beginning.

7. Customer feedback is a goldmine for improvement

To continually provide excellent service, firms must cultivate a customer-centric culture across their organization. This culture begins at the top, filters through all divisions, and avoids the 6 barriers to customer-centricity.

Employees who believe they have the authority to prioritize client demands are more inclined to go above and beyond to meet or exceed customer expectations.

Listening to consumers is critical for providing excellent service. Customer feedback is a treasure of information, revealing pain points, places for development, and changing preferences.

Brands that actively seek and respond to criticism exhibit a commitment to ongoing development, which builds trust and loyalty.

Apply this in your projects

Listening is the basis of lessons learned! Check out Elizabeth Harrin’s book, Customer-Centric Project Management, for examples and a real-life case study of how to implement a new way of thinking about lessons learned.

The video below is me speaking at the Øredev Conference in Sweden, sharing the case study from the book. It’s 40 mins long and will give you a fantastic overview of what it means to put customers at the heart of everything you do.

How being customer-centric improves IT success from Øredev Conference on Vimeo.

8: From loyalty to advocacy: Customers as brand ambassadors

When businesses continuously provide exceptional service, they build devoted consumers who become champions. These brand advocates become ardent supporters, sharing their great experiences with friends, family, and social networks.

Word-of-mouth marketing from delighted customers drives new business and strengthens the link between service, loyalty, and growth.

Apply this in your projects

During project delivery, use the right leadership approach to build a trusted, fun culture. Make your project team a place that people want to be so they advocate for the project.

During handover and go live, pass that sense of achievement on to the teams who will be supporting customers going forward. Try virtual team building activities to keep engagement high and pass the good vibes on to customers!

9. Service as the bedrock of sustainable growth

Finally, exceptional service is the keystone that strengthens the link between consumers and brands. The vast majority of customers associate outstanding service with brand loyalty, making it a potent driver of long-term success.

Brands can develop emotional connections that generate steadfast loyalty and advocacy by embracing individuality, empathy, and empowerment.

Prioritizing great service as organizations traverse an ever-changing marketplace is more than a strategy; it is the foundation of long-term success.

Apply this in your projects

Delivering service that surpasses expectations and makes a lasting impression on hearts and minds is the way to customer loyalty and corporate growth.

What will you do to make sure your efforts at work build loyalty across your team and customers?

For some ideas, check out these easy suggestions:

10 ways to be customer-centric on your projects5 Strategies for digital transformation projects

[i] Microsoft State of Global Customer Service Report, 2017

[ii] RightNow/Oracle, Customer Experience Impact Report by Harris Interactive, 2011

[iii] Research by Aberdeen Group, 2013, no longer publicly available but notes from the study are available on the WayBack Machine.

This article first appeared at Rebel's Guide to Project Management

Making the Difference: Problem Solving vs Decision Making

Do you ever find yourself stuck between a rock and hard place, unable to decide what the best course of action is?

I have. Whether it’s what desk to put in our new conservatory space (and I’ll tell you what we ended up deciding later), or who to invite to meetings, or managing to order everyone else’s food and then getting so overwhelmed with having made decisions all day for all the people that I couldn’t choose anything for myself.

I left the café with nothing for me and ended up with a couple of slices of peanut butter toast at home.

Making decisions can be difficult for even the most experienced project managers. But before making any decision, it’s important to understand the difference between problem solving and decision making.

Ready to get into it?

Problem solving involves diagnosing issues that arise during projects while decision making requires taking appropriate steps based on those diagnoses. While they may appear similar at first glance, there are key differences in how each process should be approached – understanding these differences will help you make more informed decisions!

Let’s explore both processes as well as their similarities and differences.

What is problem solving?

You’ve been solving problems since you were a baby: how to stand up, how to get your socks off, how to get your parents to bring you your favorite sippy cup.

As an adult, we solve problems every day at work and at home.

So it probably sounds a bit odd to want to define problem solving before we go any further. Surely we all know what we are talking about as we do it all the time?

Humor me. Problem solving is the process of identifying and analyzing a problem, generating potential solutions, and selecting the best solution to address the issue. It involves breaking down complex problems into smaller components and then finding ways to solve them.

The problem solving process

If you think that description sounds linear, then you’d be right. Problem solving fits neatly into a process, one that we don’t even know we’re following most of the time.

The problem solving process typically consists of four steps:

Identify the problemGenerate possible solutionsEvaluate each optionSelect an appropriate course of action.

That does make it sound easy. Wicked problems need a slightly different approach (PMI has a problem solving training course that is brilliant and will help with that).

But for now, let’s stick with a high-level approach that works for most problems.

1. Identify the problem

First, it’s important to understand what caused the issue in order to determine how best to resolve it.

You’d be surprised at how many managers don’t bother to find the root cause of the problem to truly understand it. Use techniques like the 5 Whys or an Ishikawa diagram to dig down into what the problem actually is.

2. Generate possible solutions

Brainstorming is one way to come up with different ideas for potential solutions. You could also interview experts, review lessons learned or innovative solutions from previous projects, research what the rest of your industry is doing or consult customers on what they’d like to see. There are no silly ideas at this point!

Choose the creative approach that gets you a range of options to review.

Read next: How to improve problem solving with lessons learned.

3. Evaluate each option

Once you have several options to consider, you can evaluate each one based on its effectiveness and cost before deciding which one is most suitable for your situation.

Use pairwise prioritisation, multi-criteria decision making or analytical hierarchy process (AHP) to help with the evaluation.

4. Select an appropriate course of action

Now you’ve got all the options for solving your problem, you can actually solve it by choosing a course of action that will sort it out. This is where decision making comes in. in this step you make the decision.

Finally, implement your chosen solution and monitor its progress over time so that any necessary adjustments can be made as needed.

Benefits of problem solving skills

There are many benefits associated with having effective problem solving skills.

These include improved decision making abilities (more on that in a minute), increased creativity, better communication skills, greater confidence when faced with challenging situations, enhanced ability to think critically, more efficient use of resources, improved relationships between colleagues or team members due to shared understanding of goals and increased productivity levels due to fewer mistakes being made during projects or tasks.

(Breathe. That was a long sentence, sorry.)

All these advantages make problem solving an invaluable skill in both personal life and professional life scenarios.

What is decision making?

Basically, decision making is the process of selecting a course of action from a number of alternatives. It involves gathering information, weighing options, and choosing the best option for achieving a desired outcome.

But how is that different to problem solving?

Decision making is the process of doing Step 4 of the problem solving process. It’s the choice making, option selection, conclusion of the analysis and thinking.

It’s decisive (duh), purposeful, specific. It removes the ambiguity of the ‘what do we do?’ and helps the team move towards the ‘OK, how do we do that?’

It brings action to a situation.

The decision making process

There is a simple method for decision making too, although the actual decision itself might be tough to make.

Identify that a decision is requiredEnsure you have the data to make the decisionMake the decisionTell whoever needs to implement the decision1. Identify that a decision is required

The decision-making process typically begins with identifying what decision needs to be made. Are you making the right decision, or is there something else, deeper, different that is really what’s required?

In this step you also want to identify who is making the decision. That could be your project sponsor, a panel, you by yourself, a committee or whoever. Getting this step clear saves headaches later.

2. Ensure you have the data to make the decision

Do you have all the info you need to make the decision? If not, get it.

When decisions are made quickly but thoughtfully, they can save time and resources while still producing quality results.

Major decisions need more time spent on this step to make sure you understand all the variables.

3. Make the decision

After considering all potential solutions, it’s time to make a choice based on what will yield the best results for everyone involved.

This is the hard part: make the decision! The person or people responsible for this should weigh up the data and use their professional judgement to choose the right course of action. Decision trees can be useful here to avoid unconscious bias (or conscious bias!).

Obviously this is harder for complex decisions. What vendor to choose for a 3-year outsourcing arrangement is harder to decide than what venue to book for a team away day.

4. Tell whoever needs to implement the decision

Great – you’ve made the call and know what to do, but does the rest of the team? Don’t keep the decision to yourself!

Make sure whoever needs to know the next steps is aware that the decision has been made so they can implement it and take the right action.

Having confidence in decisions leads to greater trust between team members and better collaboration overall, which can lead to improved project outcomes over time. Well-made decisions often create opportunities for growth within teams by allowing them to learn from their mistakes as well as their successes along the way.

Similarities between problem solving and decision making

Problem solving and decision making sound very similar, right?

Well, that is true. Both processes involve gathering information, analyzing it, and coming up with solutions or courses of action. They both require critical thinking skills to identify potential solutions or options that are most likely to be successful.

The processes use a similar flow

Both processes involve identifying a problem or issue, researching possible solutions, evaluating those solutions based on criteria such as cost-effectiveness or feasibility, selecting an option from among the available choices, implementing the chosen solution, and you’d also want to monitor its effectiveness over time.

The process can be iterative if necessary; if one solution does not work out as expected then another may need to be tried until a satisfactory outcome is achieved.

They both produce a satisfactory solution

Problem solving and decision making usually lead to some kind of action being taken in order to address a given issue or situation. Problem solving often involves finding creative solutions for complex problems, while decision making typically entails selecting a course of action from several possibilities after carefully evaluating each option’s advantages and disadvantages.

But ultimately, the goal is for something positive (or at least neutral) to come out of the helpful process so that whatever challenge was initially presented can be effectively addressed.

Despite being so similar you could pretty much interchange them in some circumstances, there are some differences.

Differences between problem solving and decision making

Although they have similarities in terms of the process used to come up with a solution, their goals differ significantly.

Process goals are different

The goal of problem solving is to find a solution to an existing issue. It involves identifying the cause of a problem and then finding ways to address it. Problem solving often requires input from multiple stakeholders who can provide different perspectives on how best to solve the issue at hand.

On the other hand, decision making focuses on choosing the best option from multiple alternatives. This could include selecting between competing products or services or deciding which strategy will be most effective for achieving certain objectives.

In other words: decision making doesn’t necessarily mean there is a problem. We make decisions every day about small things and big things, but they aren’t all problems that need the creative step of solutioning.

Sometimes a decision just needs to be taken and the options are clearly known.

They require different stakeholders

Another key difference between problem solving and decision making is that while problem solving typically requires input from multiple stakeholders, decision making is usually done by one individual or group who has access to all relevant information needed for the decision-making process.

To give you an example. Let’s say on a technical project the development team hit a problem. They have to bring in various subject matter experts to research and identify the parameters involved. They consult, brainstorm and debate. It’s a group effort, and it’s likely to end in a solution.

However, if I need my project sponsor to choose between two risk treatments, I’ll take him my recommendation and a summary of options and he’ll simply choose. Done.

Decisions are made based on what is known about a situation rather than relying on external opinions or advice when trying to make an informed choice about what course of action should be taken next.

They produce different results

The nature of both processes also differs in terms of the types of solutions they produce. Problem solving typically results in creative solutions that can be implemented over time, while decision making produces immediate choices from among existing alternatives without necessarily creating something new or unique.

The TL;DR

Both processes involve the identification of a problem or issue, the collection of information to evaluate possible solutions, and an analysis of potential outcomes. The main difference between them is in their goals: problem solving seeks to identify the root cause of an issue and develop a solution that will address it; decision making focuses on selecting from among available options.

Both processes require careful consideration of facts and opinions before any action is taken. Problem solving often involves more people than decision making as it requires collaboration to identify underlying causes and brainstorm potential solutions. Decision makers may consult with others for input but ultimately make decisions independently based on their own judgment.

Still got a question?What is the difference between decision and decision making?

A decision is the act of making a choice between two or more alternatives. Decision making is the process by which decisions are made. It involves gathering information, analyzing data, evaluating alternatives and choosing a course of action based on this analysis. The outcome of the process is the decision. The decision-making process also includes monitoring progress to ensure that goals are being met and taking corrective action if needed.

What is the importance of problem-solving and decision making?

Problem-solving and decision making are essential skills for project managers and managers in general. The processes keep work moving by making sure problems get solved and decisions get made so team members are not blocked from finishing their tasks.

What are the steps in problem-solving and decision making?

Problem-solving and decision making involve a series of steps that can help ensure the best possible outcome. The first step is to identify the problem or opportunity, then analyze it by gathering relevant information and evaluating potential solutions. After considering all options, select an appropriate solution and develop an action plan for implementation. Finally, monitor progress to ensure success and make necessary adjustments along the way. By following these steps, project managers can effectively manage projects while minimizing risks and maximizing results.

Before you go…

Sometimes there isn’t a right decision – it’s simply important to make a decision. As for the desk, in the end, we used a piece of furniture we already had upstairs and didn’t buy one at all.

I spent a morning measuring and researching options, and I’ll never get that time back, but that’s OK.

As a leader, you should be skilled at solving problems and making decisions, and the processes that support them. However, you don’t have to be doing all the solving and making all the calls yourself. As long as you facilitate the process and get the right people in the room, you can step back and let the experts do their thing.

Let the right people do the work and create an environment where your projects move forward because everyone’s got what they need to keep things moving.

This article first appeared at Rebel's Guide to Project Management